Rubens

Jp. A. Calosse

Description

The eclectic art of which the Carracci family dreamed was realised by Rubens with the ease of genius. However, the problem was much more complicated for a man of the north, who wished to add to it a fusion of the Flemish and Latin spirits, of which the rather pedantic attempts of Romanism had illustrated the difficulties. He achieved it without losing anything of his overflowing personality, his questing imagination, and the enchanting discoveries of the greatest colourist known to painting. Rubens, the greatest master of Baroque painting’s exuberance, took from the Italian Renaissance what could be of use to him, and then built upon it a style of his own. It is distinguished by a wonderful mastery of the human form and an amazing wealth of splendidly lighted colour. He was a man of much intellectual poise and was accustomed to court life, travelling from court to court, with pomp, as a trusted envoy. Rubens was one of those rare mortals who do real honour to humanity. He was handsome, good and generous, and he loved virtue. His laborious life was well ordered. The creator of so many delightful pagan feasts went each morning to mass before proceeding to his studio. He was the most illustrious type of happy and perfectly balanced genius, and combined in his personage passion and science, ardour and reflection. Rubens expressed drama as well as joy, since nothing human was foreign to him, and he could command at will the pathos of colour and expression which he required in his religious masterpieces. It might be said that he was as prolific in the representation of the joy and exuberance of life as Michelangelo was in the representation of passionate emotions.

Sujets

• Painting
• Baroque
• Art
• Peter Paul Rubens
• Pierre Paul Rubens
• Peinture

Informations

• Publié par: Parkstone International
• Date de parution: 04 juillet 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781781605943
• Langue: English

Extrait

Author: Jp. A. Calosse

© Confidential Concepts, worldwide, USA
© Parkstone Press International, New York, USA

ISBN: 978-1-78160-594-3

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or adapted without the permission of the copyright holder, throughout the world. Unless otherwise specified, copyright on the works reproduced lies with the respective photographers. Despite intensive research, it has not always been possible to establish copyright ownership. Where this is the case, we would appreciate notification.
Jp. A. Calosse




Peter Paul Rubens
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS



1. The Adoration of the Shepherds . 1608,
2. Self-Portrait . 1640,
3. Head of an Old Man . around 1609,
4. The Coronation of the Virgin . Around 1609-1611,
5. Virgin and Child in a Garland .
6. Roman Charity . Around 1612,
7. Christ with the Crown of Thorns (Ecce homo) . Before 1612,
8. Jupiter and Callisto . 1613,
9. The Descent from the Cross . Around 1612-1614,
10. Venus and Adonis . Around 1614,
11. Three Graces Adorning Nature . 1615,
12. Statue of Ceres . Around 1615,
13. Bacchanalia . Around 1615,
14. Two Satyrs .
15. Drunken Heracles .
16. Hagar Leaves the House of Abraham . 1615-1617,
17. Portrait of a Young Man . 1616-1617,
18. Portrait of a Young Man .
19. The Head of the Franciscan . 1615-1617,
20. Albert and Nicolas Rubens .
21. The Descent from the Cross . 1618,
22. The Descent from the Cross .
23. The Union of Earth and Water . Around 1618,
24. Four Parts of the World .
25. Feast at the House of Simon the Pharisee . 1620 (?),
26. The Carters . Around 1620,
27. Lion Hunt . Around 1621,
28. The Garden of Love .
29. Portrait of Charles de Longueval . 1621,
30. Perseus and Andromeda . Early 1620s,
31. Portrait of Marie de’ Médici .
32. Marie de’ Médici Represented as Pallas . 1622,
33. The Coronation of Marie de’ Médici .
34. The Birth of Louis XIII .
35. The Entry into Lyons . 1622,
36. The Birth of the Dauphin . 1622,
37. The Coronation of the Queen . 1622,
38. The Death of Henri IV and the Proclamation of the Regency . 1622,
39. Self-Portrait with his wife Isabelle Brandt .
40. Portrait of a Lady-in-Waiting to the Infanta Isabella . 1623-1625,
41. The Unification of Great-Britain . Around 1630,
42. Helene Fourment . 1630-1631,
43. The Vision of St. Ildefonso .
44. The Vision of St. Ildefonso . 1630-1631,
45. The Last Supper . 1631-1632,
46. Landscape with a Rainbow . 1632-1635,
47. Felicitations on the Arrival of the Infante Ferdinand in Antwerp . 1634-1635,
48. The Arch of Ferdinand . 1634,
49. The Temple of Janus . 1634,
50. Mercury Leaving Antwerp . 1634,
51. The Arch of Hercules . 1634-1635,
52. Bacchus .
53. Pastoral Scene . 1636-1640,
54. Landscape with Simon and Iphigenie . Late 1630s,
55. The Adoration of the Three Kings .
1. The Adoration of the Shepherds . 1608,
oil on canvas, 63.5 x 47 cm,
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg.
2. Self-Portrait . 1640,
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.


The name of the great seventeenth-century Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens is known throughout the world. The importance of his contribution to the development of European culture is generally recognized. The perception of life that he revealed in his pictures is so vivid, and fundamental human values are affirmed in them with such force, that we look on Rubens ’ paintings as a living aesthetic reality of our own time as well.
One gains the impression that in the seventeenth century Rubens did not attract as much attention as later. This may appear strange: indeed his contemporaries praised him as the “ Apelles of our day ” . However, in the immediate years after the artist ’ s death in 1640 the reputation which he had gained throughout Europe was overshadowed. The reasons for this can be found in the changing historical situation in Europe during the latter half of the seventeenth century. In the first decades of that century nations and absolutist states were rapidly forming. Rubens ’ new approach to art could not fail to serve as a mirror for the most diverse social strata in many European countries which were keen to assert their national identity and had followed the same path of development. This aim was inspired by Rubens ’ idea that the sensually perceived material world had value in itself; Rubens ’ lofty conception of man, his place in the Universe, and his emphasis on the sublime tension of man ’ s physical and imaginative powers (born in conditions of the most bitter social conflicts), became a kind of banner of this struggle, and provided an ideal worth fighting for. In the second half of the seventeenth century the political situation in Europe was different. In Germany after the end of the Thirty Years ’ War, in France following the Frondes, and in England as the result of the Restoration, the absolutist regime triumphed. There was an increasing disparity in society between conservative and progressive forces; and this led to a “ re-assessment of values ” among the privileged, who were reactionary by inclination, and to the emergence of an ambiguous and contradictory attitude towards Rubens.

This attitude became as internationally prevalent as his high reputation during his lifetime, and this is why we lose trace of many of the artist ’ s works in the second half of the seventeenth century after they left the hands of their original owners (and why there is only rare mention of his paintings in descriptions of the collections of this period). Only in the eighteenth century did Rubens